Posted on Nov 20, 2016
Why is it difficult for Reserves and National Guard to go active duty?
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Responses: 17
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Think about it from the National Guard's perspective (and this is also my view as a Commander). The Guard has spent considerable amounts of our finite pool of federal training money to get that Soldier through Basic and AIT (we get a pool and it costs a lot, in excess of 100k for all that training, which doesn't get magically reallocated if you go Active). Then from my perspective as a Commander, when they recruit you they are recruiting you against an open slot on my roster, which cannot be overfilled (sometimes we are allowed to go over-strength for various reasons, but even then that is never more than 125%) and stays vacant until they are done training and on a drilling status (this is one big reason why when my Company has 46 authorized slots, I am lucky to have 30pax show up to any particular drill).
So my people are covering down on that slot until filled, do you think I am happy or even particularly willing to let them go until they have served out the term of your enlistment and we get some of the investment back as well as give the Soldiers who were covering that spot some relief?
So my people are covering down on that slot until filled, do you think I am happy or even particularly willing to let them go until they have served out the term of your enlistment and we get some of the investment back as well as give the Soldiers who were covering that spot some relief?
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SFC J Fullerton
Sir, you make very valid points. However, I have seen a couple of cases (as an Army Recruiter) where an ARNG Soldier who was in severe financial hardship (unemployed with a family, sick child/no insurance) were denied release to go Regular Army for those same reasons. I think at some point the welfare and best interests of the Soldier and family have to be considered in cases that have merit for release to Active Duty.
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MAJ Daniel Buchholz
Sgt (Join to see) - No, I wouldn't. Because if they are coming in and immediately able to perform, I would not even blink if they asked to go back to Active (or even Reserve). My Company is full of low density MOS's so every hole in the manning roster hurts my ability to fill a mission (which is why if they are NPS Soldiers who I have to keep that slot open for from the moment they sign their enlistment paperwork, which can be upwards of 2 years, somewhere around 10+ slots are like this for me at any time (out of 46)).
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MAJ Daniel Buchholz
SFC J Fullerton - And I would be receptive if they came and pleaded their case if that is the fact. My biggest cause for loss is IST's and ETS's, the active duty case is relatively rare.
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While I was on recruiting it had to do with NG units being part of an enhanced brigade. They had to keep their units at a certain manning level or lose out on money. I had one unit not part of an enhanced brigade, that would not release a soldier no matter what, unless I provided them a contract that they could put in. This soldier tried not going to drill for over a year and even missed AT to see if they would release him, but they marked all his absences as excused
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More than likely that your MOS is over manned... For instance, I went to 3 recruiters asking if I can go active and they asked me "What is your MOS?" I told them, then they asked "Do you want to reclass?" I told them no, then they told me "Well you pretty much have to be homeless to get on Active"... I didn't believe it, but yeah... LOL
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Well the simple answer is we're in a drawdown military. You have to consider first that recruiters are constantly recruiting. Next people are either getting out or staying in. Some stay until their contract ends, and some get kicked out for multiple reasons. Now every year there is a magic number they have to hit. So if they need to kick more people out, they will. But if there aren't enough recruits to fill those spots, then that's where you get the reservist.
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It's not that it's difficult to go.........just that it's difficult to get everyone to sign where they need to when you need them to. So going isn't the hard part....it's getting released so you CAN go is the hard part.
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An RC or NG commander has to release you, and the AD component has to accept you. Those planets can be difficult to align.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Much easier in the RC when compared to the NG primarily due to training dollars spent.
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the standards may be different than they are used to...
when i went back on active duty, with Jump-pay, Pro-pay, BAS/ BAQ I was making almost 3 1/2 times what i was making as a Civilian...
when i went back on active duty, with Jump-pay, Pro-pay, BAS/ BAQ I was making almost 3 1/2 times what i was making as a Civilian...
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SGT (Join to see)
I'm troop support in the civilian work, very low man on the totem pole, less than 2 years in logistic support. I make about $150 more a week there than I did on Active duty orders in Afghanistan with the Guard and I received BAH as well as hazardous duty pay. I also have commissary privileges and make my $6,000 a year with the guard, get partial BAH for going to school and have had half my schooling paid for by the Army since before I deployed. I live in a lower cost of living area I couldn't imagine living in a more expensive place and trying to provide for a family with what the military pays.
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